Automated creation of printed works having customized and/or personalized content

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are various embodiments for automatically creating printed works. A subset of electronic publications from a collection of electronic publications is periodically selected in at least one computing system. The selecting is directed at least in part by at least one rule predefined by a user. The subset of electronic publications includes at least two distinct electronic publications. A printed work that includes the subset of electronic publications is encoded for printing.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to,co-pending U.S. patent application entitled “AUTOMATED CREATION OFPRINTED WORKS HAVING CUSTOMIZED AND/OR PERSONALIZED CONTENT” filed onJul. 1, 2005 and assigned application Ser. No. 11/173,821, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The described technology is directed to the field of publishing, andmore specifically, to generating customized and/or personalized printedworks containing information of interest.

BACKGROUND

In The Sermons of Henry Ward Beecher (1870), Mr. Beecher states:

-   -   “Books are the windows through which the soul looks out. A home        without books is like a room without windows.”

Indeed, humans have held a special appreciation for books and otherwritten works for thousands of years, and continue to do so today. Intoday's information society, people have access to a vast universe ofelectronic works, including electronic books, articles, news stories,and countless other electronic publications containing combinations oftext, charts, images, photos, etc. People also continue to access abroad variety of printed works in more traditional paper form by goingto libraries, bookstores, and newsstands, or by subscribing for home oroffice delivery of newspapers and periodicals. As the number of sourcesof written works has proliferated, however, and the means for acquiringthose works has increased, people have found it more and more difficultto monitor and consume all of the sources of information that interestthem. For example, while it has become popular for people to createlists of hyperlinks to different web pages having information about aparticular topic, using such lists requires access to an electronicdevice and appropriate connectivity or caching to access all of thelinked-to information. While accessing information of interest with anelectronic device has the advantage of allowing a user to instantly getthe most up-to-date information, it can also be cumbersome at times. Forexample, the battery life of electronic devices can be unsuitable fortrans-Atlantic flights, while the displays of electronic devices can beunsuitable when vacationing on a beach. In contrast, printed works aremuch more suitable for these challenging environments—but finding,purchasing, and transporting all of the printed works on a particulartopic can be so challenging that most consumers won't make the effort.It would therefore be advantageous if people were able to aggregatevarious works of information in which they are interested, and put suchworks into a form that can be more readily consumed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram showing typical components of acomputer system or other device upon which the facility for generatingcustomized and/or personalized printed works executes in someembodiments.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a user interactionframework suitable for use with the facility for generating customizedand/or personalized printed works.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a framework associated with creatingcustomized and/or personalized printed works in some embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a display diagram showing a first interface page, as may beprovided by a user interaction tool associated with the facility in someembodiments.

FIG. 5 is a display diagram showing a second interface page, as may beprovided by a user interaction tool associated with the facility in someembodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing an example of a routine performed atthe facility for creating a customized and/or personalized printed workin some embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram showing an example of a routine for creating aperiodic blog book for a user in some embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram showing an example of a routine for resellingcustom printed works created by users in some embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram showing an example of a routine for providingroyalties or other compensation to blog authors who make their blogsavailable to users for incorporation into a printed work.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A software facility for generating customized and/or personalizedprinted works (“the facility”) is described. In some embodiments, thefacility provides access to a universe of available documents,materials, and other information from which users may select content toinclude in their own customized printed works. For example, the universeof available documents, materials, and other information may includebooks, articles, papers, blogs (or other types of informal,user-provided works), web pages, transcripts, maps, stories, quotations,illustrations, photographs, poems, sections or excerpts of any of theforegoing, or any other information that can be printed on paper (inwhole or in part) or otherwise presented in a physical form (e.g., as abook, journal, or other physical form such as Braille). To facilitatethe selection of content from the universe of content, in someembodiments, the facility provides various ways for users to locateparticular content, such as through a searchable database or browsablecatalog of available works. The content may be distributed both withinand external to the facility.

In some embodiments, the facility enables users to create their ownoriginal content and provide it to the facility to include in a printedwork containing other materials. Examples of original content include anannotation to a work, an introduction to a collection of materials, apoem written by the user, personal photographs, etc. Accordingly, thefacility may provide one or more input means for receiving such originalcontent from users.

Once a user has selected and/or provided a desired collection ofcontent, the facility may provide tools for the user to transform thecontent to ultimately produce a customized printed work. For example, insome embodiments, the facility provides tools that enable the user toorganize the relative arrangement of the content (e.g., determine theorder of a collection of stories or the placement of pictures andillustrations), delete unwanted portions of the content (e.g., removeany references to offensive content or remove entire sections of contentwhich are not of interest), and modify portions of the content (e.g.,integrate annotations or personal notes, translate parts or all of thecontent into another language, globally change words or names in thecontent, etc.). In some embodiments, the facility provides tools so thatthe user may customize the “look and feel” of the content (e.g., changethe font or size of print, emphasize sections of text using bold printor italics, add color, highlighting, etc.). As with the content, theprovided tools may be distributed both within and external to thefacility.

After the collection of content has been transformed, in someembodiments, the facility offers printing and delivery services to theuser. For example, the facility may offer one or more printing andbinding options (e.g., ranging from staples and paperclips to hard coverleather bindings). The facility may then schedule the completed printedwork to be shipped to the user.

In some embodiments, the facility enables users to set up documentgeneration and printing rules that allow the facility to automaticallygenerate a personalized printed work on a periodic basis (e.g., daily,weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.). For example, a user may specify tohave the facility automatically generate a bi-weekly printed work thatincludes a weekly editorial column from the New York Times, allnewly-published articles written by columnist Mark A. Rodgers, and allnewly-released content from the Associated Press Newswire containing thekeyword “extreme mountain biking.” The user may also specify that thebi-weekly printed work is to be translated to Russian and printed in16-point text on light blue paper.

In another example of document generation and printing rules, a user mayset a maximum number of pages to avoid receiving an automaticallygenerated printed work that is too large. In order to meet a selectedpage limit, users may invoke prioritization schemes for automaticallyselected content. For example, a user may specify the cover story fromFortune Magazine as a first priority, and any articles containing thekeyword “e-commerce”in the title as a second priority. This helps ensurethat the resulting personalized work contains the information that ismost important to the user. In some embodiments, if timing allows, theuser may be allowed to add “hand picked” content into an otherwiseautomatically generated personalized printed work. Thus, unlike ordinarypublished materials, the facility provides a means to create printedworks that are meaningful and/or useful to them on a very personal andtargeted level.

FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram showing typical components of arepresentative environment 100 in which a printed works facility 102 maybe implemented. For example, a user at a user system 104 may access theprinted works facility 102 to create various customized printed works105 that contain content of specific interest to the user (e.g.,compilations of existing works, excerpts from existing works, and/oruser-provided content, including original works by the user). The terms“book,” “custom book,” “work,” and “printed work” are used herein todescribe any tangible output of the printed works facility 102, and mayinclude items such as hardcover books, paperback books, pamphlets,posters, leaflets, “glossy” journal type publications, books with audiofeatures, notepads, Braille books, images or text printed on paper, etc.In some embodiments, the user system 104 communicates with the printedworks facility 102 via a network such as the Internet 106.

While not illustrated in detail in FIG. 1, as is well known in the art,both the printed works facility 102 and the user system 104 may compriseone or more central processing units (CPUs), input/output devices, andone or more computer memories. Among the input/output devices may bestorage devices, such as a hard disk drive; a computer-readable mediadrive, which can be used to install software products, including aspectsof the facility or system, which are provided on a computer-readablemedium, such as a CD-ROM; and a network connection for connecting toother computer systems. While the printed works facility 102 and theuser system 104 may be implemented on a computer system or other deviceconfigured as described above, those skilled in the art will recognizethat they may also be implemented on computer systems and devices havingdifferent configurations.

The memory of the printed works facility 102 may include variouscomponents such as a user interaction framework 108 and a contentaggregation engine 110. The content aggregation engine 110 maycommunicate or be coupled to various content databases (e.g., 112, 114,and 116), as well as a customer database 118. These content databases(112, 114, and 116) may provide a set of existing content (as well asindications of future content) from which the user may select to createthe printed work 105. For example, a first content database 112 mayinclude various books on almost any subject that the user may wish toincorporate, while a second content database 114 may include variousnews publications or other reference materials. In addition to orinstead of storing digital content, the content databases (112, 114, and116) may also store indications of content stored external to thefacility. For example, one or more of the content databases (112, 114,and 116) may include references or pointers to items stored in anexternal data source, such as an Associated Press database containingnews articles, a government database, etc. In some embodiments, aseparate data storage facility (not shown) may be used for storing suchreferences or pointers.

While specific examples of content are described herein, the printedworks facility 102 may provide or access virtually any type ofpublishable content and/or combination of publishable content forgenerating printed works, including manuscripts, papers, reports,fiction books, non-fiction books, dictionaries, encyclopedias,magazines, newspapers, photographs, illustrations, maps, governmentdocuments, legal documents, web site content, a user's personal blogs ordiary content, blogs written by other users, private documents, informaltextual works, and so forth. In addition to drawing from moretraditional types of content, other less conventional sources may beused to generate customized and/or personalized printed works. Forexample, the printed works facility 102 may draw on product informationfrom product manufacturer or retailer databases to generate customizedproduct catalogs, wherein the generated catalogs include products of acertain type, style, size, brand, etc., that are tailored to a user. Inanother example, the printed works facility 102 may access varioussearch engines to generate books containing aggregated personalizedsearch results. In yet another example, the facility may access a user'shard disk drive to generate a customized printed work based on thecontents of the hard drive.

In some embodiments, the customer database 118 may include user historyinformation that the printed works facility 102 may use to generatecontent recommendations for a user. For example, user historyinformation may include past content viewing habits of the user,purchasing habits of the user, etc. The customer database 118 may alsostore preferences that allow the content aggregation engine 110 toselect content for automatically generated personalized printed works,and a record of the content that the facility previously incorporatedinto printed works for that user. In this way, the printed worksfacility 102 may alert the user to the possibility of incorporatingpreviously used content into a printed work. Likewise, the printed worksfacility 102 may avoid duplicating the information provided inautomatically generated printed works.

The memory of the user system 104 may contain various applicationsincluding a web browser and an operating system that allow it to connectto the Internet and, thereby, connect to the printed works facility 102.Upon establishing a connection with the printed works facility 102, theuser may access tools associated with the user interaction framework 108to select information from the content databases (e.g., 112, 114, and116). Once the user selects the desired content through the userinteraction framework 108, the content aggregation engine 110 mayaggregate the content into a document that the user can further modifyusing additional tools associated with the user interaction framework108. Examples of various tools provided by the user interactionframework 108 are described in more detail with respect to FIG. 2. Likethe content sources used by the facility, the tools provided by the userinteraction frame work may be either local or remote (e.g., the facilitymay employ third party searching capabilities, while relying on locallyimplemented formatting tools). In another example, the user's webbrowser is configured with a plug-in feature that allows the user tospecify web sites containing content that the user may want to includein a custom printed work, such as by activating a user interface controldisplayed by the plug-in when pages of these web sites are displayed inthe web browser. This plug-in feature may then interface with thefacility to provide information about the user's selections.

In cases where the printed works facility 102 is automaticallygenerating personalized printed works based on pre-specified rules andpreferences (e.g., on a periodic basis), the user interaction framework108 may retrieve such user preference information and apply theappropriate customization/formatting tools without the need for furtheruser interaction.

Other components associated with the printed works facility 102 mayinclude a delivery system 120 and a print on demand system 122.Accordingly, after completing a customization processes, the user, viathe user interaction framework 108 may print the work 105 on demand. Insome embodiments, the print on demand system 122 may include bookbinding and other book making capabilities. The print on demand system122 may include multiple printing devices, which may vary in type,function, location, etc. For example, the printed works facility 102 maysend a print request involving book binding to a printing device havingbinding capabilities and may send a high-volume print request to aprinting device configured for large jobs. After printing, the deliverysystem 120 may deliver the printed work 105 to the user via a variety ofdelivery means (e.g., airmail, ground shipping, etc.). In someembodiments, the printed words facility 102 may provide the user with aprintable electronic copy of the printed work 105 via, for example,email, web page, fax, etc., to enabling printing under the user'scontrol.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a user interactionframework, such as the user interaction framework 108 of FIG. 1. Theuser interaction framework 108 may provide various tools to allow a userto select, input, and modify content to create a customized book orprinted work. For example, the user interaction framework 108 mayinclude original work input tools 200, content selection tools 202,formatting tools 204, translation tools 206, annotation tools 208,design/layout tools 210, word/text replacement tools 212, bibliographytools 214, summary/indexing tools 216, binding configuration tools 218,delivery configuration tools 220, and so forth.

In some embodiments, the one or more original work input tools 200 maybe used to allow the user to input his or her own original or personalcontent such as blog journal entries, poems, personal thoughts,photographs, etc. Likewise, the content selection tools 202 may includevarious tools that allow the user to select existing content (andpossibly future content) from various content databases. For example,the content selection tools 202 may include a search and query function,a recommendation function, a browse function, and other functions thatallow the user to select content from a specific work or set of works.The content selection tools may, thus, offer a variety of searchstrategies in addition to performing text searching (e.g., search bytitle, subject, keyword, etc.). Some examples of search strategiesinclude allowing a user to select items from a catalog and then basingthe search on metadata associated with the selected item, allowing theuser to highlight content while browsing a web site or viewing a workand then basing the search on metadata associated with the highlighteditems, allowing the user to select a “see more like this” option whenviewing or browsing content and then basing the search on correspondingmetadata, etc.

After the user selects content, thereby creating a work in progress, theuser may invoke various tools of the user interaction framework 108 tocollectively or individually manipulate aspects of the selected contentto create a deliverable customized book or printed work having specialmeaning and/or use to the user. For example, the formatting tools 204may allow the user to identify specific excerpts from the content thathe or she has selected and change the formatting of the excerpts in away that makes the most sense to him or her (e.g., by highlighting,underlining, bolding, changing the font size of, or other manipulationof the text). Another example of a formatting option that may beprovided by the formatting tools 204 includes allowing a user to convertall the text in a printed version of the work into Braille. In somecases, the formatting tools 204 may be used along with filters or otherrelated functionality. Such search filters may be applied toautomatically identify and/or format certain words, phrases, or imagesthat the user identifies. For example, an “inappropriate language”filter may be used to remove offensive or adult language from a printedwork for use by children or sensitive audiences. Likewise, the facilitymay apply similar tools to exclude unwanted or irrelevant portions ofcontent from the specified content. In addition to using direct userinput to transform the content in the work in progress, in some cases,the facility may select the portions of content selected fortransformation through one or more additional means. For example, thefacility may exclude certain content based on a determination of whethercontent satisfies a popularity threshold calculated by the facility.

The translation tools 206 may provide foreign language translation. Forexample, the user may choose to translate parts of a book from Frenchinto English or vice versa. The annotation tools 208 may allow the userto provide notes or comments about certain aspects of the selectedcontent. The design layout tools 210 may allow the user to modify the“look and feel” of the selected content. For example, the user may wishto add colors, arrange text in columns or tables, or perform other typesof layout transformations.

A word/text replacement tool 212 may allow the user to globally replacecertain words or text in the selected content to customize it in a waythat he or she desires. For example, the user may replace a character'sname with his or her name in a story, or come up with a custom term forsome item described in the custom work. A bibliography tool 214 mayallow the user to easily create a custom “bibliography” citing eachsource of content. Likewise, a summary/indexing tool 216 mayautomatically generate a summary, index, table of contents, glossary,chart, etc., for content contained in the printed work. Thesummary/indexing tool 216, or similar tools like it may also generateindexes or summary tables relating to images, such as printablethumbnail index for images. In some embodiments, the summary/indexingtool 216 relies on metadata associated with each item of selectedcontent. The summary/indexing tool 216 may be paired with filters thatallow a user to specify rules for the automatic summarizing/indexing.For example, using such filters, a user may specify that she wants anindex by author, an index by subject matter, an index by keyword, ageographical index, a thumbnail index of images, etc.

In a similar way, the facility may pair any one of the various toolsdescribed above with filters or similar interfaces that allow users toat least partially automate the process of designating portions of thecontent to be modified. For example, a user may set a filter thatindicates that each occurrence of the word “lavender” should behighlighted in purple. In another example, a user may set a globalfilter indicating that any content originating from a government source(e.g., statutes, regulations, etc.) should be printed in a certain styleof font.

After finalizing the customization of the work in progress, the user mayuse the book binding tools 216 to specify the desired physical form forthe printed work. For example, the user may specify a hard coverbinding, a soft cover binding, special tabs, special book cover colors,glossy pages, ribbon markers, leaflets, etc. The user may then specifyhow and when the printed work will be delivered via the deliveryconfiguration tools 218. For example, the user may request to have acustom book on beer brewing (including select recipes) sent as a gift toa friend. In another example, the user may request to have aperiodically generated personalized printed work sent to his or her homeon a certain day of the week or sent to a particular location (e.g.,office, home, airport, etc.).

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic overview 300 of creatingprinted works in some embodiments. The printed works may be based oncontent selected from a universe of available content 304 (e.g., booksand excerpts, photographs, poems, and articles) and then aggregatedand/or transformed. In some embodiments, a collection of userinteraction tools 302 may facilitate the selection and manage theaggregation of the content. The printed works may also be based onoriginal/personal content 306 provided by the user via the userinteraction tools 302. In some embodiments, customization preferencesand personal touches 308 (e.g., extra large print, selected pages only,etc.) are reflected in the printed works and incorporated via the userinteraction tools 302. In some embodiments, print on demand services 310perform printing of the printed works.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a visual user interface presented by the facility insome embodiments. FIG. 4 is a display diagram showing a first interfacepage 400, as may be provided by a user interaction tool associated withthe facility. The first interface page 400 may be displayed to a userwho has logged in at the facility (e.g., a user named “Joe”). In someembodiments, the first interface page 400 is accessed, at least in part,via an Internet browser application at the user's computer.

From the first interface page 400, the user may begin to create a newprinted work by selecting a CREATE A NEW WORK button 402. Likewise, theuser may be able to edit a work in progress by selecting an EDIT A WORKIN PROGRESS button 404. The user may also be able to complete anexisting work and finalize it for printing/delivery by selecting aCOMPLETE AN EXISTING WORK button 406.

In some embodiments, a WORKS IN PROGRESS display area 408 shows variouscreative works that the user has started but not yet completed. Forexample, in the illustrated embodiment, the WORKS IN PROGRESS displayarea 408 includes “Joe's Blogs for the Week of Mar. 13, 2005,” “Joe'sBook on Orcas,” and “Joe's Favorite Chocolate Recipes.” In someembodiments, a SEARCH FOR NEW CONTENT display area 410 provides amechanism through which the user may search for additional works orcontent to add to either a new work or a work in progress. The SEARCHFOR NEW CONTENT display area 410 may include a text field that allowsthe user to enter search terms (e.g., “chocolate cake”) and a text fieldthat allows the user to select a search category (e.g., “recipes”). Insome embodiments, from a VIEW ADDITIONAL CONTENT SELECTION TOOLS displayarea 412, the user may select to view additional content selectiontools, such as tools that provide content recommendations made by thefacility (e.g., based on past content viewing habits, purchasing habits,etc.). This may be done by selecting a VIEW button 414. In some cases,content recommendations may recommend content for a custom work that theuser is currently assembling, or may include recommendations formaterial within a custom work. The latter tool may be especially usefulfor large custom works.

FIG. 5 is a display diagram showing a second interface page 500, as maybe provided by a user interaction tool associated with the facility. Insome embodiments, the second interface page 500 provides access to toolsthat allow the user to format, customize, modify, and otherwisetransform selected content. Examples include performing foreign languagetranslations, adding annotations or notes, formatting text, replacingselected text, adding bibliographical references, modifying look andfeel, etc. Additional examples include customizing the content based oninput from filter interfaces (e.g., highlighting selected features,etc.), indexing or summarizing content, etc. In some embodiments, thesecond interface page 500 may include a CURRENT CONTENT display area 502that shows content for a currently selected work in progress (e.g.,“Joe's Book on Orcas”). Within the CURRENT CONTENT display area 502, thecurrent content for “Joe's Book on Orcas” is displayed and includes fiveitems with a second item that is currently selected (e.g., “Orca: TheWhale Called Killer”). Several user buttons may be provided inassociation with the CURRENT CONTENT display area 502, including an ADDNEW CONTENT button 504, a DELETE CONTENT button 506, and an ADD PERSONALCONTENT 508 button. In the illustrated embodiment, these features allowthe user to edit the current content of “Joe's Book on Orcas.”

The second interface page 500 may allow the user to access one or moretools to modify or format any currently selected content (e.g., “Orca:The Whale Called Killer”) from the current work in progress. Forexample, the selected content (or, alternatively, the entire work inprogress) may be modified using various tools and sub-interfaces (notshown), some or all of which may be accessed via buttons on the secondinterface page 500. In some embodiments, these buttons may include aTRANSLATE button 510, an ANNOTATE button 512, a TEXT/WORD REPLACE button514, a FORMAT button 516, a MODIFY DESIGN/LAYOUT button 518, aBIBLIOGRAPHY button 520, a FINALIZE button 522, a PRINT PREVIEW button524, and a SAVE button 526. The functionality associated with some ofthese buttons has been previously described with respect to FIG. 2 or isotherwise self-explanatory (e.g., print preview, finalize, save, etc.).

An AUTOBOOKS button 528 may provide the user with access to an interfacethat allows him or her to set parameters and rules for automaticpersonalized documents (e.g., generated by the facility and sent to theuser as requested and/or on a periodic basis). While not illustrated,the facility may provide any combination or number of tools (andcorresponding access features or buttons), either through interfacepages, such as those shown above, or through other techniques.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing an example of a routine 600 performedat the facility for creating a custom printed work (e.g., a custombook). At block 601, the facility presents available content to a user(which may include any existing or future materials that can be printedon paper). At block 602, the facility receives the selection of contentand collects and/or aggregates the selected content. In someembodiments, selection occurs manually (e.g., in response to the userproviding selection instructions via the user interaction framework).However, selection may also occur at least partially automatically(e.g., based on parameters provided by the user so that the facility canautomatically select content on behalf of the user, including futurecontent that is not yet in existence or not yet available). For example,the user may provide instructions so that the facility incorporates allupcoming works from a specified author into the custom work. Likewise,the user may specify that the custom work should include any articles onplanting roses that are published in a given set of gardeningperiodicals over the next two months. In some embodiments, locating andaggregating content may be implemented through the use of technologiessuch as extensible markup language (XML) feeds (seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xml) and the RSS file format (seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS %28file format %29).

At optional block 603, the facility receives original content from theuser and adds it to the aggregated selected content. In someembodiments, the facility stores all the selected content (block 602)and all the provided original content (block 603) in a document that canthen be manipulated or customized by the user. In other embodiments, thefacility retrieves the selected content and transforms it at the timethat the content is being processed for printing. At block 604, thefacility customizes the content according to user requests andpreferences (e.g., commands received directly from the user through auser interface or previously specified rules and parameters). At block605, the facility prints the finalized custom book (e.g., on demand asrequested by the user). In some embodiments, the facility (and/or user)may retain a digital or electronic copy of the work. Such electronicallystored copies may be retained as part of a user record, and/or forsubsequent use, such as resale to other customers, later reference orpersonal use by the user. For example, the facility may allow the userto print out or email additional copies of the work for distribution tofriends, allow the user to search his or her previous works for anarticle that they remember reading, etc.

At block 606, the facility initializes delivery of the custom book tothe user (e.g., schedules it for shipping). At block 608, the facilitybills the user for the custom book. The charge to the user may be basedon several factors and many possible billing schemes may be employed.For example, the user may be charged based on royalties paid to originalauthors or on a per-page, per-book, or per-article basis. The user mayalso be charged based on the amount or extent of customization, as wellas the format of the printed document (e.g., stapled, versus bound,versus leaflets). In some cases, the facility may provide subscriptions,package deals, or flat fees (e.g., for selecting works from variousgroups, etc.). After billing, the routine 600 ends.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram showing an example of a routine 700 forcreating a periodic blog book for a user (e.g., a weekly blog book, amonthly blog book, etc.). At block 701, the facility receives a nextblog entry from an identified blog. In some cases, the blog entry may beselected by the user based on its content or author. For example, a usermay indicate a particular blog environment (such as a blogosphere ofinterlinked blogs containing certain key blogs), and then choose to havethe facility incorporate select blogs (e.g., blogs related to aspecified subject or person) from that blog environment into the user'sblog book. In other cases, facility automatically selects the blog froman available universe of blogs based on the user's specified interestsor based on interests identified by analyzing the user's prior behavior(e.g., visiting web sites, selecting certain categories of content inthe past, purchasing items online, clicking on links or advertisements,playing certain categories of online games, etc.).

At block 702, the facility aggregates the received blog entry into ablog book and stores the blog book as a document. At decision block 703,the facility checks if the user is done with adding entries to the blogbook for the period. At decision block 703, if the facility has notreceived all blog book entries for the week, the routine 700 loops backto block 701 to receive the next blog entry. If, however, at decisionblock 703 the facility has received the last blog entry for the week,the routine 700 continues at block 704 to customize the content of theblog book according to user requests and/or preferences. For example,the user may use the custom interface tools to configure the block bookin a desired way or set parameters for automatic configuration. At block705, the facility prints the blog book on demand as requested by theuser. At block 706, the facility delivers the printed blog book to theuser. The routine 700 then ends.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram showing an example of a routine 800 forreselling custom printable works (such as works created in the contextof routines 600 and 700, described above). At block 801, the facilityreceives a finalized version of a new custom printable work (e.g., awork created by a user named Joe). At block 802, the facility adds thecustom work to a custom work library containing available custom works.In addition, the facility may add a description to go along with thecustom printable work so that users can understand what content isincluded in the custom printable work. This description may be providedby the user who created the custom work, by another person, or by thefacility (e.g., based on identification of key words within the customwork). At block 803, the facility facilitates the sale of a printed formof the custom work to a second user (e.g., a user named Sue). At block804, the facility, based on selling the custom work to Sue, provides aroyalty to Joe for generating the custom work. The routine 800 thenends.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram showing an example of a routine 900 forproviding royalties or other compensation to authors who make theirblogs (or other content) available to users for printing or forincorporation into a custom printed work. For example, an author (e.g.,a blog author) may receive payment each time a user selects one of hisor her works for printing or for incorporation into a custom work. Atblock 901, the author agrees on a royalty/compensation scheme (e.g.,price per page printed, price per word printed, price per daily entryprinted, etc.) with an administrator of the facility. At block 902, thefacility provides user access to one or more blog entries of the author.At block 903, the facility receives a request from a user to include ablog entry in a custom printed work or to print a blog entry. At block904, the facility charges the user for including the blog entry in acustom work or for printing the blog entry. At block 905, the facilityprovides a royalty or other compensation to the blog author. The routine900 then ends.

While the routine 900 described above provides an example of a royaltyscheme using the specific example of blog entries, it is also possibleto apply royalty/licensing schemes for other types of content (e.g.,novels, encyclopedias, images, artwork, etc.) utilized by the facilityin creating custom works. Accordingly, the facility may include alicensing clearinghouse component configured to allow authors to selectoptions indicating how they wish to be compensated (if at all) for theuse of their works. In some embodiments, the licensing clearinghousecomponent (and associated database) allows an author to automaticallysubmit their work (or indications of their work) so that it can be addedto the universe of content made available by the facility. In addition,the licensing clearinghouse component may allow the author to selectfrom one or more offered licensing programs (e.g., pay by page, pay byword used, pay by work used, etc.). The licensing clearinghousecomponent may then include an interface to aspects of the facility thatautomatically tracks the way that the author's works are being used. Inthis way, the facility may, at least partially, automate the process ofcompensating the author. The licensing clearinghouse component may allowauthors to customize such auto-licensing programs through the use offilters and other interface tools. For example, an author may set afilter indicating that she does not want her work included in any customworks that also include works from another specified author. Likewise,an author may set a filter that prohibits the work from being includedin a custom printed work relating to a topic that the author findsoffensive, or otherwise undesirable. Similarly, an author may limit thenumber of times his work may be used in a custom printed work (e.g.,during a given time frame).

For authors who have not signed up for a royalty/compensation scheme forthe re-distribution of their work, the facility may initiate contactwith the author if a user selects the author's work for inclusion in aprinted work. For example, if a user indicates an interest in having anauthor's content made available for inclusion in a customized and/orpersonalized work, the facility may generate and send an email or othermessage to the author, indicating that there is an interest in theauthor's work. This email or message may set forth the particulars ofthe fee structure under which the author would be compensated, and mayprovide an option for the author to immediately accept the terms (e.g.,by clicking on a button in the email or message or returning to anacceptance web page associated with the facility). In this way, moreauthors may learn about the facility, thereby providing viral aspectsthat can benefit both users and authors. For some types of works (suchas blogs), an alternative approach for providing royalties to authorsmay involve including the author's work in a printed work without firstgetting specific permission, but then holding royalty payments in, forexample, an escrow account and notifying the author of the availabilityof such royalty payments. In such a case, the author may be contacted byan email or other message that indicates that he or she has fundsavailable for collection. In some cases, the actual printing and/ordelivery of the printed work may be delayed until the author hascollected the funds or otherwise agreed to the use of his or her work.

In some embodiments, it may be possible to employ a multi-tiercompensation program where both authors and third parties, such asexternal content aggregators, may be compensated for allowing theircontent to be included in customized and/or personalized printed works.For example, many web sites and services exist that aggregate contentfrom other sources. These web sites and services sometimes provide aneasy way for users to select content for inclusion in customized and/orpersonalized printed works. For example, a user may indicate that he orshe wishes to have a printed work containing daily top stores from athird party web site (e.g., the “Drudge Report”). In such a case, it maybe appropriate to compensate both the third party and the author for theinclusion of the content in the customized and/or personalized printedwork.

In some embodiments, the facility implements other schemes forcompensating authors and/or creators of custom printable works whentheir materials are made available for other users of the facility. Forexample, in some embodiments, the facility includes advertisements incustom works generated by the facility. The advertisements may bespecially tailored for the user and/or may relate to the contentselected for inclusion in the custom work. More specifically, thefacility may include an advertisement selection tool that automaticallyselects advertisements for the printed work based on metadata associatedwith the selected content (e.g., metadata indicating a category or topicassociated with the contents), or based on the presence of certain text(e.g., key words or phrases) within the content itself. For example, theadvertisement tool may select dog food advertisements for placement in acustom printed work containing various types of information about GoldenRetrievers. Likewise, the advertisement tool may select computer-relatedadvertisements for a blog book containing blogs about computerprogramming. The advertisement tool may also be configured to considercontents of a user's past custom works in selecting advertisements for acurrent work in progress. In addition, the advertisement tool may selectadvertisements for users based on other data, such as user demographicsor may select advertisements randomly from a pool of availableadvertisements.

In some embodiments, the facility charges advertisers who have theiradvertisements placed in custom printed works a fee for this service (inaddition to or instead of the user being charged a fee for thegeneration of the custom work). In some cases, a user may specificallyelect to include advertisements in a custom printed work to offset thefee charged to the user. Alternatively, the facility may placeadvertisements in printed works by default and then charge a premium tothose users who wish to generate a custom work that is free ofadvertisements. In some embodiments, the provider of the facility sharessome or all of the revenue created by advertising dollars with rightsholders (e.g., blog authors, book authors, journal authors, artists,poets, etc.); in some embodiments, the provider of the facility retainsthe generated revenue.

In addition to advertisements, the facility may provide bonus content inassociation with providing printed works. This bonus content may berelated to a printed work by topic, and is intended to enrich the user'sexperience. Examples of such bonus content include recommended articles,games (e.g., cross-word puzzles, trivia questions, etc.), coupons, extraimages, etc. In some cases, the facility may give the user an option ofwhether he or she wishes to receive such bonus material. Likewise, thefacility may provide the user with the option of selecting to receivethe bonus content separately from the printed work (e.g., in a separateprinted document).

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that theabove-described facility may be straightforwardly adapted or extended invarious ways. For example, while the examples above primarily describeprinting single works, in some embodiments, the facility prints multipleworks or printed materials (e.g., allows breaking up a single book intomultiple volumes that are easy to carry around or distributing multiplecopies of the same work to friends, employees, etc.). Also, whileseveral specific customization, personalization, and formatting toolsare described above, many other types of tools may be provided. On theother hand, the facility may omit various tools and functionalitydescribed herein. While the foregoing description makes reference toparticular embodiments, the scope of the invention is defined solely bythe claims that follow and the elements recited therein.

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program that isexecutable in at least one computing system, the program comprising:code that obtains a selection of a first electronic publication from auser, the first electronic publication being selected by the user from acollection of electronic publications; code that automatically selects asecond electronic publication from the collection of electronicpublications, the selecting directed at least in part by at least onerule predefined by the user, the second electronic publication beingdistinct from the first electronic publication; code that transforms thefirst electronic publication and the second electronic publication byapplying at least one text transformation rule supplied by the user;code that formats the first electronic publication and the secondelectronic publication according to at least one formatting optionselected by the user; and code that encodes a printed work for printing,the printed work including the first electronic publication and thesecond electronic publication, the printed work being associated with atleast one binding option selected by the user.
 2. A method, comprisingthe steps of: periodically selecting, in at least one computing system,a subset of electronic publications from a collection of electronicpublications, the selecting being directed at least in part by at leastone rule predefined by a user, the subset of electronic publicationsincluding at least two distinct electronic publications, wherein thestep of periodically selecting is performed in response to an expirationof a time period predefined by the user for periodically encoding forprinting at least one printed work including the subset of electronicpublications; formatting, in the at least one computing system, at leastone of the subset of electronic publications according to a formattingoption selected by the user, wherein the formatting option relates to atleast one of a group of formatting option types consisting of: papercolor, font face, font color, font size, and font style; and encodingfor printing, in the at least one computing system, a printed workincluding the subset of electronic publications.
 3. The method of claim2, wherein at least one of the subset of electronic publications wasunavailable for selection when the at least one rule was predefined. 4.The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of translating, inthe at least one computing system, at least a portion of at least one ofthe subset of electronic publications from a first language into asecond language.
 5. The method of claim 2, further comprising the stepof replacing, in the at least one computing system, a first term in atleast one of the subset of electronic publications with a second termprovided by the user.
 6. The method of claim 2, further comprising thestep of filtering, in the at least one computing system, at least one ofthe subset of electronic publications to remove inappropriate language.7. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one rule includes a rulethat selects electronic publications from the collection based at leastin part on popularity.
 8. The method of claim 2, wherein the at leastone rule includes a rule that selects electronic publications from thecollection based at least in part on historical preferences of the user.9. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of initiating aroyalty payment to a content source associated with at least one of thesubset of electronic publications.
 10. A system, comprising: at leastone computing system; and a printed work generation system executable inthe at least one computing system, the printed work generation systemcomprising: logic that obtains a selection of a subset of electronicpublications from a user, the subset of electronic publications beingselected from a collection of electronic publications, the subset ofelectronic publications including at least two distinct electronicpublications; logic that abridges at least one of the subset ofelectronic publications based at least in part on a maximum number ofpages, the maximum number of pages being selected by the user; logicthat transforms the subset of electronic publications by applying atleast one text transformation rule supplied by the user; and logic thatencodes for printing a printed work including the transformed electronicpublications.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one texttransformation rule specifies a translation from a first language to asecond language.
 12. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least onetext transformation rule specifies a replacement of a first textualelement with a second textual element.
 13. The system of claim 10,wherein the at least one text transformation rule specifies a filteringof a plurality of inappropriate words.
 14. The system of claim 10,wherein the at least one text transformation rule specifies ahighlighting of a textual element.
 15. The system of claim 10, whereinthe printed work is associated with at least one binding option selectedby the user.
 16. The system of claim 10, wherein the printed workgeneration system further comprises logic that generates at least onethumbnail index for images within the subset of electronic publicationsfor inclusion within the printed work.
 17. The system of claim 10,wherein the printed work generation system further comprises logic thatgenerates at least one summary based at least in part on at least one ofthe subset of electronic publications for inclusion within the printedwork.
 18. The system of claim 10, wherein the printed work generationsystem further comprises logic that alerts the user when the subset ofelectronic publications includes at least one electronic publicationincluded in a printed work previously encoded for printing by theprinted work generation system for the user.
 19. The system of claim 10,wherein the printed work generation system further comprises logic thatprovides a digital copy of the printed work to the user.
 20. The systemof claim 10, wherein the printed work generation system furthercomprises logic that recommends at least one electronic publication tothe user based at least in part on historical preferences of the user.21. The system of claim 10, wherein the printed work generation systemfurther comprises logic that initiates a royalty payment to a contentsource associated with at least one of the subset of electronicpublications.
 22. The system of claim 10, wherein the printed workgeneration system further comprises logic that requests permission toreproduce at least one of the subset of electronic publications from acontent source.
 23. A system, comprising: at least one computing system;and a printed work generation system executable in the at least onecomputing system, the printed work generation system comprising: logicthat periodically selects a subset of electronic publications from acollection of electronic publications, the logic that periodicallyselects being directed at least in part by at least one rule predefinedby a user, the subset of electronic publications including at least twodistinct electronic publications, wherein the logic that periodicallyselects is executed in response to an expiration of a time periodpredefined by the user for periodically encoding for printing at leastone printed work including the subset of electronic publications; logicthat formats at least one of the subset of electronic publicationsaccording to a formatting option selected by the user, wherein theformatting option relates to at least one of a group of formattingoption types consisting of: paper color, font face, font color, fontsize, and font style; and logic that encodes for printing a printed workincluding the subset of electronic publications.
 24. The system of claim23, wherein at least one of the subset of electronic publications wasunavailable for selection when the at least one rule was predefined. 25.The system of claim 23, wherein the printed work generation systemfurther comprises logic that translates at least a portion of at leastone of the subset of electronic publications from a first language intoa second language.
 26. The system of claim 23, wherein the printed workgeneration system further comprises logic that replaces a first term inat least one of the subset of electronic publications with a second termprovided by the user.
 27. The system of claim 23, wherein the printedwork generation system further comprises logic that filters at least oneof the subset of electronic publications to remove inappropriatelanguage.
 28. The system of claim 23, wherein the at least one ruleincludes a rule that selects electronic publications from the collectionbased at least in part on popularity.
 29. The system of claim 23,wherein the at least one rule includes a rule that selects electronicpublications from the collection based at least in part on historicalpreferences of the user.
 30. The system of claim 23, wherein the printedwork generation system further comprises logic that initiates a royaltypayment to a content source associated with at least one of the subsetof electronic publications.
 31. A method, comprising the steps of:obtaining, in at least one computing device, a selection of a subset ofelectronic publications from a user, the subset of electronicpublications being selected from a collection of electronicpublications, the subset of electronic publications including at leasttwo distinct electronic publications; abridging, in the at least onecomputing device, at least one of the subset of electronic publicationsbased at least in part on a maximum number of pages, the maximum numberof pages being selected by the user; transforming, in the at least onecomputing device, the subset of electronic publications by applying atleast one text transformation rule supplied by the user; and encoding,in the at least one computing device, a printed work for printingincluding the transformed electronic publications.
 32. The method ofclaim 31, wherein the at least one text transformation rule specifies atranslation from a first language to a second language.
 33. The methodof claim 31, wherein the at least one text transformation rule specifiesa replacement of a first textual element with a second textual element.34. The method of claim 31, wherein the at least one text transformationrule specifies a filtering of a plurality of inappropriate words. 35.The method of claim 31, wherein the at least one text transformationrule specifies a highlighting of a textual element.
 36. The method ofclaim 31, wherein the printed work is associated with at least onebinding option selected by the user.
 37. The method of claim 31, furthercomprising the step of generating, in the at least one computing device,at least one thumbnail index for images within the subset of electronicpublications for inclusion within the printed work.
 38. The method ofclaim 31, further comprising the step of generating, in the at least onecomputing device, at least one summary based at least in part on atleast one of the subset of electronic publications for inclusion withinthe printed work.
 39. The method of claim 31, further comprising thestep of alerting, in the at least one computing device, the user whenthe subset of electronic publications includes at least one electronicpublication included in a printed work previously encoded for printingfor the user.
 40. The method of claim 31, further comprising the step ofproviding, in the at least one computing device, a digital copy of theprinted work to the user.
 41. The method of claim 31, further comprisingthe step of recommending, in the at least one computing device, at leastone electronic publication to the user based at least in part onhistorical preferences of the user.
 42. The method of claim 31, furthercomprising the step of initiating, in the at least one computing device,a royalty payment to a content source associated with at least one ofthe subset of electronic publications.
 43. The method of claim 31,further comprising the step of requesting, in the at least one computingdevice, permission to reproduce at least one of the subset of electronicpublications from a content source.